There are two common types of tire air valves in widespread use on inner tubes of vehicle tires. One type is a Schrader type valve which is a reasonably rugged valve in which the valve assembly is protected by an outer casing. Valves of this type are commonly used on automobiles and trucks. These valves have also been used widely on bicycle tires.
However, as designs for bicycles have become more technologically advanced, efforts have been made to alter the form of the valves on the bicycle tires in order to reduce the overall weight of the bicycle. The result of these efforts is the Presta type valve which is now widely used specifically for inner tubes used in bicycle tires.
However, due to the particular construction of a Presta valve, which has an exposed valve stem, it is often the case that the valve stem of a Presta valve is broken while attempting to inflate a bicycle tire having a Presta valve. When the valve stem of a Presta valve is broken, it is necessary to replace the entire inner tube of the bicycle tire, often a time consuming and very inconvenient process.
In order to prevent the valve stem of a Presta valve from breaking, a number of different pump nozzle designs have been developed which accommodate for the relative fragileness of the Presta valve and that also can be utilized with the more rugged Schrader type valves.
One type of nozzle design that has been developed for use with Presta and Schrader type valves are pump nozzles in which assemblies for use with each type of valve are positioned at opposite ends of a pump nozzle housing. The pump nozzle can then be physically reversed to accommodate a particular valve type in certain designs. In other designs a movable airflow controller located within the nozzle housing can be adjusted through the use of a lever or other manipulating device to position the controller against the selected receiver on the housing for the appropriate valve type to place the valve in fluid communication with the pump. Examples of patents disclosing pump nozzle designs of this type are: Chiago U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,488; Wu U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,865; and Chuang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,100.
Still another type of prior art nozzle assembly is shown in Wang U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,815 and Glotin U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,392. In the nozzle designs illustrated in these patents, a pair of separate receivers are contained within a housing for the nozzle that are configured to receive one of the two types of tire valves. After a Schrader or Presta valve is inserting into the housing near the appropriate receiver, the appropriate receiver is then engaged with the valve by pivoting a lever to urge the receiver into engagement with the valve inserted into the housing.
A third type of pump nozzle adapted for use with both Schrader and Presta type valves is illustrated in Gapinski et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,920 and Wu U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,781. In these patents, the pump nozzle is designed with a single opening through which each type of valve can be inserted. The interior of the nozzle is configured to have different diameter sections that properly position either a Schrader valve or a Presta valve within the nozzle. A spring biased engagement member is also disposed within the nozzle housing and, depending upon the type of valve, can be depressed to a specified point within the nozzle in order to appropriately engage the specific valve inserted into the housing.
However, in each of the aforementioned prior art pump nozzle designs, the nozzles require a specialized construction that includes a number of moving parts which need to be effectively sealed with regard to one another and to the housing for the nozzle in order for the nozzle to work appropriately. Based on the presence of these moving parts, should the seals or the moving parts become damaged, the nozzles are effectively prevented from being utilized in conjunction with either type of valve.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a simple and easy to use pump nozzle adapter which is capable of effectively allowing a pump nozzle to be utilized with Schrader or Presta valves and that does not affect the operation of the pump nozzle if the adapter becomes damaged.